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Description/Abstract

Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using new records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) eruption, dated to c. 40,000 years ago (40 ka BP). Thedistribution of the CI has been enhanced by the discovery of ‘cryptotephra’ deposits, volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye, in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronise archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters.